Literally Snails

@Unicorncob @reader8363 @Snow Frostflame @Dynamo Pad @dragon4111 Tricis sat back down, making sure Rose and Pad were healed. "First thing tomorrow, team Tsunami fights team Crimos. After that, Team Rokata will fight a team called the Spirit Warriors. It's important that you all watch both of these fights."

@Unicorncob @reader8363 @Snow Frostflame @Dynamo Pad @dragon4111 Tricis saw Jade and Rose's reaction to what she said and realized she needed to clarify something. "No, that's not what I mean. Your family is safe, Rose. In order for you to understand what I mean, you'll need to understand what is motivating Rokata and his team. I don't know what their team's owner, Rail is planning, but I believe it's obvious what the actual fighters of team Rokata want. They've made it clear that they're eager to fight you, and it appears that they've already picked their favorites. Selene has shown interest in Dynamo. The member with the shadow familiar has already attacked Rose. Frostflame has also already encountered the minotaur. That leaves the blood mage to Draco and of course, Jade, You already know who you will need to fight."

@Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @dragon4111 @Snow Frostflame @Unicorncob Tricis waited for Dynamo to explain his magical ability first. It was good for all of them to understand how it worked. Then she finished healing Rose. She took her hooves off the pegasus's chest, and she would immediately find that her body was rapidly healing. "I'll start by answering a question that I'm sure a lot of you have," she announced. "Why didn't the mean lady use her special healing techniques to fix Rose before the fight?" She switched to Dynamo Pad, laying her hooves on his back and using her magic to repair him as well. "As I explained yesterday, your magical ability can grow considerably when your body goes through great strain. I had hoped that Rose wouldn't have to fight today, but I underestimated the number of dirty tricks our enemy was willing to pull. Still, Rose and Dynamo will grow considerably because of what they went through today. Even if they can't feel the changes now." She took her hooves off Pad and addressed the rest of the room. "You all have extraordinary growth potential. That is the thing you all have in common. It has to be the reason you were brought here. You arrived at this tournament already believing you'd reached your peaks, but you must realize by now you have a lot to learn." She made eye contact with each of them individually. "You've been targeted. You realize that? Rokata and his team have already picked which of you they like best. I have a feeling you already know which of them you'll be fighting if you make it to the finals. I know the way Rokata thinks. He will get his way." She looked at Frostflame specifically for a moment. "And if you try and find some way out of this, that will only worsen your chances. That means you need to be prepared to fight these opponents. I've been observing you, measuring the five of you to see how you stack up against the members of Team Rokata. You will not succeed if you challenge them as you are now. Two of you have already experienced this first hoof." She looked at Rose and Frostflame. "The results weren't very pretty, were they?" She pointed to a paper roster posted on the wall. Only six teams out of the original fourteen were still on the board. "Tomorrow is the last day of the second round. After that, you will fight in the semi-finals. Then there will be one day of rest. Then come the finals. You have four days."

@Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @dragon4111 @Snow Frostflame @Unicorncob Tricis started with Rose Beast since her injuries were the worst. She placed both of her front hooves on her chest and closed her eyes, exhaling as a warm yellow glow emanated from her hooves. There was a soft buzzing sound as the room was bathed in soft light. This was different than the last time Tricis aided Rose. Rose felt instantly better as her broken bones and tissue started to mend. She seemed perplexed by Draco's reaction to Dynamo's speech. She was over three times Draco's age and she'd never heard a pony speak that way without being sarcastic. He was also insulting Frostflame again. Those two were like children who couldn't finish an argument because they each had to be the last to speak. "Are you all quite finished?" She asked. "Are we ready to start?"

@Unicorncob @reader8363 @dragon4111 @Dynamo Pad "There's no need to escort them anywhere." Tricis said, "Just lock them out and come back. We have to have a discussion." She turned to Draco, "A civil discussion," she turned to Jade, "first we need to find an agreement so we can all get along. We need to put on our big pony shoes and nip all this arguing in the bud. After that, we can start talking about serious issues. Like why we're here."

@Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @Snow Frostflame @dragon4111 @Unicorncob "Oh please, now you're just sounding desperate. The only thing that you're the best at here is whining." Trisis sat down next to dynamo and Rose and wiped a bead of sweat off her brow. She looked Rose and admitted. "Yes, of course I can't beat Rokata. Do you think I'd entrust this to any of you if I could do it myself?" She looked back at Cosmic and Frozen and smiled. "But this old mare still has enough in her tank to kick out two annoying kids, so I suggest the two of you leave right now before I really embarrass you. Getting thrown out the balcony by an old mare isn't gonna look good to your egos, so please do us all a favor and get lost."

@Dynamo Pad @Snow Frostflame @reader8363 @Unicorncob Tricis blocked the attack from hitting Cosmic and looked at both him and Frozen. "I think that's a good sign for the two of you to leave. We don't need you here any longer and neither does the pony who hired you. We have other things to deal with." Tricis looked to Jade, hoping she'd start taking charge now. The team captain needed to take control.

Tricis narrowed her eyes at this comment. If that was true, this was all moot. Still she stayed silent and watched them talk. @dragon4111 "I appreciate that you all see so highly of me but I can't see into the future and I didn't know you were going to be ambushed!" Tricis remarked, "This Big Shot character obviously planned that round ahead of time and knew a dozen different ways to cheat. He was probably planning on taking out as many members of this team with mercenaries as he could before the round started. When they saw the two of you in the forest alone, it was just an opportunity." She looked at cosmic and Frozen. "Is that correct?" She asked, but didn't wait for an answer she already knew. @reader8363 @Unicorncob' "I can't believe you ponies are still bickering!" Tricis shouted. She sat Dynamo and Rose down on a couch away from the others and then stood up straight, addressing the room. "You aren't fighting for yourselves, you petulant children! Snow and Draco, I told you that you only had to kill each other if you felt there was no other option. Did either of you honestly believe that there wasn't? Dynamo and Draco almost died today fighting five on three because your new friend has a crap heap for a boss!" Tricis turned off the hotel TV, which was showing highlights from Dynamo's match against the doctor. Tricis lowered her voice, looking down with her left hoof still on the television. "Draco, Frostflame, I've been yelling at you two because I still believe there's a chance to get through to you. Maybe I'm wrong and there really isn't anything buried under all those layers of crap you hide behind." She somberly walked toward the hotel patio, opening the sliding doors to the outside. "But I'll say again what I've been trying to explain to you. If you don't start acting like a team, Rokata will win. You're not just going to overpower him like you've been doing up until now. You didn't come here as a team but you'll need to become one to face what you're up against." She looked out at the setting sun over the hills and raised one hoof to the sky. "I didn't think I'd have to show you this!" Her horn glowed and started transferring a stream of energy to the tip of her hoof. She closed her eyes and inhaled for a moment as her power built, then she opened them, revealing that they were glowing white, and let out a loud cry as a massive beam of green magical energy shot from her hoof. The force of the beam caused the room to shake and glasses to fall from the tables inside. The walls on either side of the patio started to chip and crack from the pressure of being so close to the spell. The beam itself was wide enough to completely eclipse Tricis' body and it continued firing for several seconds, filling the room with a green glow. When it ended, Tricis lowered her hoof and a green beam of energy was piercing the clouds. It could have obliterated their hotel room if she aimed it in another direction. Tricis turned back to everyone in the room, a bead of sweat traveled down her brow as she caught her breath. "I've spent my life training to make up for my mistakes, but even I can't face Rokata and his team. At my age it's impossible. At least now you can know I know what I'm talking about."

@Dynamo Pad @reader8363 @Snow Frostflame @dragon4111 The four ponies traveled to the hotel room with Tricis leading the way, when they entered, they saw Snow Frostflame with his prisoner, Frozen, both of them looking battered from a fight. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

Topaz seemed offput by the question. Whether or not it's what Rose intended, it sounded like she was asking her on a date. Topaz looked blankly at Rose trying to think of a response before the pegasus collapsed. "Um, alright?" Topaz said, not sure what Jade was referring to and still offput by Rose's offer. "Not luck, kid, the luck is for the gamblers up top. You've earned this." Tricis replied. She looked at Pad, Jade and Rose, all three of them were greatly injured. Rose and Pad had injuries that could even be life-threatening. She used her magic to support Pad and made sure Jade had Rose. "As for recovery. We'll go to the hotel and I'll fix up the two of you while Jade hunts for her team. Shouldn't take more than an hour to get you patched up." She added. Hopefully, no one would ask why Tricis didn't bother healing rose before the match started if her healing techniques were so effective.

@Unicorncob @Dynamo Pad @Snow Frostflame @dragon4111 There was a flash of light as the sparks clashed against her wing. Zerras two outstretched wings acted like a blanket over the two combatants, obscuring what happened. The stage was silent for a moment as Topaz stepped around to see what happened. Zerras wings lowered and Rose could be seen again beneath her, her body visibly smoking in the patches of dark fur. Roses blade sunk into Zerras gut just bellow her ribs. There were sparks around the hilt showing where it had broken through her electrical barrier. Zerra looked down at Rose through squinted eyes and gritted teeth. She opened her mouth, but instead of speaking, she simply exhaled a labored gasp and fell to her side next to rose, unconscious. Tricis breathed a sigh of relief next to Jade and spoke while Topaz gave the final ten count, "Closer than we'd hoped but making it through this is a good sign. You'll have to find out what happened to draco a frostflame, but I've got a feeling that as of now, you finally have a team." "Its over, folks! The winner by ten count is Rose! Team Lotus is the first to advance to the semi finals!" Topaz announced. "Lady Dai, huh?" Dai muttered to herself as Draco flew off.

"You're more injured than I am!" Zerra cried, and it was clearly true to any observer that Rose was even more greatly injured than Zerra. Because of that, Rose shouldn't have had the energy to summon any shadows to defend herself. Zerra took a step to Rose's right side and fired a blast of electric energy point blank.

Zerra looked over Roses body. She was in worse shape than she let on. Ross's injuries were even worse than Zerras. If what Rose was saying was true, then Rose was close to death just as well. Zerra gritted her teeth and folded her wings forward, creating an electrical field between both tips. She angrily screamed and shot a bolt of energy at Rose point blank. Zerra couldn't sense a drop of energy in Rose's body. If Rose still had power, she would be able to deflect Zerra attack even reverse it back at her, but she shouldn't be able to. Unless Rose had some way to muster up enough power to save her in this desperate situation, the attack would be enough to finish her off.

"I'm not taking orders from the contestants." Topaz replied. "Zerra is down, and I'm starting a ten count. ONE! TWO!" Zerra worked her way up to her knees and stamped her hind hooves on the ground. Both contestants were bleeding from Rose's gutsy move. Topaz paused her ten count. "Don't lie to me, Rose. You have less energy than I do right now." She huffed.

Zerra gritted her teeth and took two steps forward. Her right wing started to glow with yellow sparks and she swung it at Rose, but before she could complete the swing, she fell at Roses hooves, crashing into her legs with a grunt.

Rose and Zerra were both standing across from one another, both of them bleeding from their new puncture holes. Neither of them had fallen over yet, so Topaz didn't start a ten count. Zerra had a shocked look on her face, her mouth slightly opened as a trickle of blood spilled out. She took one labored step forward. It looked like she was having difficulty keeping her balance. "But how?" She asked through labored breaths.

Zerra saw rose collapse and smirked. She stepped forward and poured more energy into the electric cage to make sure she finished Rose off when she suddenly heard movement behind her. Zerra turned around, using the light from her electrical attack to see the ethereal spikes coming out of the dome surrounding them. She broke her focus on Rose's cage, releasing her so she could create a barrier to defend herself from the protrusions heading toward her, but they broke through the barrier and pierced her torso and shoulder in three places. Topaz couldn't see what was happening, but she heard shocked screams from both mares as the attack struck them both.

Rose shouldn't have been able to run since she was still in the lightning cage. Zerra stepped to the side if she was able to move at all. Still, It's unclear what Rose is planning to do. The lightning cage around her had shrunken so much it almost touched her skin.

Rose would have to make her move fast, because Zerra was showing that she still had plenty of energy, and she was ready to end the fight. The cage around Rose glowed brighter and constricted around her, straining against the shadow protecting her. She had a matter of seconds before her protection failed.

"I don't really think that will be necessary, do you?" Dai said, looking at Cosmos. "You do know what time it is right? The reason they're here was to make you miss your match, and it worked. They wont know anything else." "Sorry, Rose, but dying isnt in my plans!" Zerra said as she tightened her stance. The surging cage around Rose started to shrink, compressing the shadow inside.

Tricis looked at her student with concern. Just like what happened to him. They've been so similar so far. Will she react like he did when strength wasn't enough? Zerra looked up at the cage of shadows forming around both of them while Rose herself was in a smaller cage of electrical energy. The light coming off of the Cage of Torment was the only thing that allowed the two of them to see with its radiant yellow glow. "So you want to die faster then? You could barely handle this technique when you were in top physical form! I see what you're doing, dipping into your life energy, trying to at least make this contest a draw? It won't make a bit of difference! You're still going to die!" Zerra curved her hoof and increased the flow of electricity as strong as she could make it. The pain became unbearable .

@Dynamo Pad @Unicorncob "I have," Zerra said, spreading her wings and hind legs, ready to take to the air at a moment's notice. "I'm not letting you touch me. And this time I'm going to finish things QUICKLY!" She gritted her teeth and surged more energy into Rose's cage. Coursing high volts of electricity through Rose's body. "Ooh, that doesn't look pleasant!" Topaz announced. "Zerra is pumping Rose up like an overcharged car battery! I can almost smell the burning skin! I think this fight is... over! But you've just got to love it when its as painful as this!"

@Dynamo Pad "Of course I am. How could anyone not stay mad at a face like that," Dai said as she eased down on all fours. She raised an eyebrow at Draco's prisoner. "Who's that?" With each slash Zerra made, there was a trail of electricity that lingered in the air. Zerra didn't respond to Rose's request. She just kept grunting and angrily slashing with her blade. When they were near the center, she pulled her blade back, pulling on the lingering electrical ropes that closed around Rose like a net. "Let's try this again! Cage of Torment!"

Zerra wasn't resolved to give her that time. The assassin was frustrated that Rose was still fighting after surviving her most painful technique twice. She started angrily slashing at Rose, forcing her to always be on the defensive. She was a professional and her strikes were precise and fast.

The diamond dog jumped out of the bushes with her sickle ready. Draco may gave forgotten by now the deadly range the weapon had and that gave her an advantage. She let out a growl but was struck in the air by a pink blur, striking her in her head and making her crash unconscious on the forest floor. Dai landed next to her doing a hoof stand and staring up at Draco. "Geez, Draco, let me guess. You got "doesnt work or play well with others" on all your report cards, huh?" Rose seemed to be underestimating her injuries if she thought she could use both her front hooves to fight with while balancing on her wings. That gave Zerra a clear advantage. She Sprung at Rose, becoming a yellow flash for a second before stopping on her right side and swinging down at her chest.